Carlos Alcaraz gives fitness update ahead of US Open after twisting ankle during practice

Carlos Alcaraz suffered an injury scare ahead of the 2024 US Open as his practice session with Francisco Cerundolo was cut short and he admitted he “didn’t feel comfortable enough to keep practicing”.

The four-time Grand Slam winner was seen hobbling during his hit with Argentine Cerundolo early on Saturday and decided not to continue with the session. However, he made an appearance at the Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day later in the afternoon and appeared to move freely.

During his press conference later in the day, the 2022 US Open champion insisted he is “still feeling good” and should be 100% for the tournament.

“I think it is okay. I just stopped my practice session for precaution,” Alcaraz said. “I didn’t feel comfortable enough to keep practicing just in case if everything is going to be worse.

“But after a few hours later, I’m still feeling good, you know, my feet. So tomorrow I will try to be practicing again 100% without thinking about it, but today I’ll take care about it.”

The third seed added: “I don’t want to stop any practice. I want to practice, I want to get better, I want to get ready for the tournament. But honestly with the ankle, I wasn’t worried about that. So I’m sure that tomorrow or in two days I’m going to be at 100%, for sure. It’s about time.”

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Alcaraz will face qualifier Li Tu in the first round at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday, but he heads into the final Grand Slam of the year on the back of a second-round defeat to Gael Monfils at the Cincinnati Open.

That was his only match on hard courts as he skipped the Canadian Open as it clashed with the Paris Olympics at Roland Garros.

“Obviously I have loved to have more matches on my belt on hard court before the US Open. But, I mean, it doesn’t affect me at all,” he said. “If I look back a little bit, for example, [at] Roland Garros, I hadn’t [played] too much matches on clay, and it was a pretty good result. And then in Wimbledon, same thing.”

The reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion continued: “I don’t want to think that it’s going to be the same [as] the previous two Grand Slams, but I’m not worried about not having too many matches on hard court.”

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